Gregorio Pérez Valdés

Gregorio Américo Pérez Valdés (Mano Negra)

• Throws Right

• Born November 28, 1941 in Guayabal, Las Tunas Cuba
• Died February 15, 2021 in Amancio, Las Tunas Cuba

Biographical Information

Gregorio Pérez had a long career in the Cuban Serie Nacional and was briefly on the Cuban national team.

Pérez debuted for Granjeros in 1964-1965. He won the first game at the Estadio Cándido González on December 26, 1965, beating the Industriales. In 1969-1970, he won 12 games to tie Alfredo García for the league lead in wins. He had a 5.40 ERA and no decisions for Cuba in the 1970 Central American and Caribbean Games as they won Gold. It was his only stint with the national team.

He pitched eight complete games for the Cafetaleros in 1974-1975 to tie Omar Carrero for the lead. In the Series Selectivas in 1975, he won the ERA title (1.04) for Oriente. He was with Las Tunas in 1977-1978 when he reached 100 career wins. In 1978-1979, he led the league with 111 hits allowed. He retired following the 1980-1981 Serie Nacional.

He had gone 110-107 with 11 saves and a 2.18 ERA in 302 games in Cuba (112 CG). He only walked 363 in 1,792 2/3 IP. He hit .111/.195/.152. Among hurlers with 750+ IP, he had the third-lowest BB/9 IP rate, behind Luis Campillo and Orestes González. Through 2020-2021, he was also tied for 58th in wins, tied José Ramón Riscart for 27th in complete games and 49th in IP (between Ubisney Bermúdez and Rafael Castillo). He threw a fastball at 90 mph and had a top-notch sinker.

He later coached for Las Tunas and was part of the delegation for the 1999 Baltimore Orioles-Cuban National Team Exhibition Series.

Sources

• A History of Cuban Baseball by Peter Bjarkman
• Obituary by Marco Stoovelaar
• Cuban-play.com
• Ecured